


Our Strange Relationship

by yeriichi



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, comments make me happy, if you guys want, since im a mean author, smut?, so do kudos, the end result is a secret
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-12-20 21:59:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11930130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeriichi/pseuds/yeriichi
Summary: Seongwoo and Daniel have always been best friends since childhood -and it was supposed to stay that way.But what happens when Seongwoo finally finds the courage to confess to his childhood friend, only to find out about rumors involving his said crush and another cute boy from their school?





	1. Chapter 1

_Alright Seongwoo. It's been 18 years since you've known him. You need to tell him now or you'll regret it for the rest of your life_.

Seongwoo continued to repeat these words in his head as he stepped closer to the dance room where Daniel was practicing alone.

 _Here goes nothing_ , Seongwoo thought as he quietly looked into the dance room where he saw his best friend who he had been secretly crushing on since he was 10 years old.

Except.

_Oh._

Oh.

Except Daniel wasn't alone.

Sitting next to him was the school's famous winkboy, smiling and giggling at whatever Daniel had just said. The two didn't even notice Seongwoo standing by the doorway...or the sound of him leaving.

So the school rumors were true after all; Seongwoo's crush/best friend had a new boyfriend. Which would have- no, could have been himself if he only had confessed sooner. It was hard for Seongwoo to hold the tears in as he walked down the hallway, wanting to get to his dorm (shared dorm with Daniel) and cry under his blankets.

The worst part wasn't the fact that Daniel might have a boyfriend. The worst part was that Seongwoo had to continue to pretend as if he saw Daniel as nothing more than a best friend. To pretend his heart didn't flutter everytime Daniel laughed at his jokes. To pretend that any time Daniel touched him it didn't send a shock down his body. The worst part was that he and Daniel would continue on the way they were before- with Daniel oblivious and Seongwoo pining.

The thing was... the first few years of Seongwoo crushing on Daniel, Seongwoo swore Daniel felt the same way about him. They were pretty much magnets, stuck together 24/7, never leaving each other's side. They ate together, hung out together, even slept in the same bed together??? They were practically already a couple but the only reason Seongwoo never thought of confessing was because he was unsure of Daniel's sexuality.

Which was why the day Daniel came out to him was likely the best and worst day of his life. It was his best day because now he knew he had a chance, and worst because immediately after that Daniel also confessed that he had a boyfriend.

And there flew Seongwoo's certainty that Daniel liked him back.

The years after that were a repetition of Daniel's many boyfriends, break ups, and Seongwoo cheering on his crush's love life without being able to tell him his own feelings. He swore to himself that once they both enter college he would finally confess. 

Well so long for that plan.

Once Seongwoo finally got to his dorm he immediately dove under his blankets and turned on his phone to rant his heart out to his internet friend that he had met online but had never seen his face before. All he knew was that they both liked puppies enough to become members of an online puppy community...and that for some reason he felt like he could trust the guy even if they had never met in person.

 

**from Minhyun**

so how did it go? he said yes didnt he? i told u he'd say yes for sure

 

**from Ongie**

i...didnt..tell him

 

**from Minhyun**

wHAT??? WhY NOt??? 

 

**from Ongie**

well he was laughing with some other guy

 

**from Minhyun**

are you kidding me? you didnt confess just cuz he was laughing with some other dude? they could have just been friends??? homies??? bros??? i laugh with my friends all the time but that certainly doesn't mean im in love with them

 

**from Ongie**

this wasnt just any guy. it was our school's winkboy. theres been rumors that he and daniel were a thing but anytime i asked daniel about it, he told me they weren't anything. but i saw them today and theres no way they arent "anything"

 

**from Minhyun**

maybe they really aren't "anything" and are just two homies? also...you go to a school with a winkboy too?

 

**from Ongie**

too? you mean theres one at your school too?

 

**from Minhyun**

actually just ignore what i said. whats important right now is that you get your ass back to daniel and confess to him already

 

**from Ongie**

I AM NOT CONFESSING UNTIL I KNOW HE IS SEXY FREE AND SINGLE AND READY TO BINGO

 

**from Minhyun**

did you really just quote Super Junior? thats officially it, im leaving and i will not return until you come back here with a message telling me that you finally confessed

_user Minhyun is now offline_

Seongwoo kicked the blankets off his bed and continued to kick the air in frustration. Damn it, Minhyun! He was supposed to be consoling not chastising! Seongwoo flipped over on his stomach and stuffed his face in his pillow and proceeded to kick his mattress repeatedly. He was willing to keep kicking for hours if it wasn't for two large hands grabbing his ankles and forcing his kicking to stop. 

"Who the fu-" Seongwoo stopped mid-curse when he turned around and saw Daniel giggling and holding Seongwoo's ankles up.

"Aww is my baby hyung having a tantrum?" Daniel laughed as he shook Seongwoo's ankles playfully.

"You better let go of me right now Kang Daniel," Seongwoo warned, glaring at the culprit who had his ankles hostage.

"Or what?"

"Or this-" Seongwoo began kicking at full speed, thrashing in Daniel's grip. In retaliation, Daniel pulled his hyung's ankles hard, dragging Seongwoo closer and closer to him before letting go of his ankles and attacking his torso with tickles. Unable to hold his laughter or fight Daniel off of him, Seongwoo held his hand up and repeatedly slapped the mattress next to him, laughing out "Surrender! I surrender so stop it!"

Only once he heard his hyung's plea for mercy did Daniel release Seongwoo from his grip.

"Jesus christ you overgrown dog," Seongwoo grumbled while smoothing his shirt down. He got up from his lying position to sit against the headboard but not before slapping Daniel on the back of the head.

"You just looked so down so I wanted to make you laugh," Daniel giggled.

 _Goddammit he is literally the cutest overgrown puppy I've seen in my life_ , Seongwoo thought in his head.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, when he felt Daniel's hand rest above his knee.

"Seriously though hyung. You look like you've been crying. What made you so upset?" Daniel asked, giving Seongwoo's leg a slight squeeze.

 _You_ , thought Seongwoo,  _and you're hurting me right now_. It was those small, light but intimate touches between him and Daniel that always had Seongwoo hoping. And it was this hope that hurt Seongwoo more when he realized it was pointless.

"It's nothing Daniel, I'm just grumpy because I'm hungry," Seongwoo lied, faking a smile. He was expecting Daniel to return his smile like he always did so he was surprised when Daniel continued to stare at him with an unreadable expression. Feeling the atmosphere weigh down on them, Seongwoo was about to crack a joke to lighten the mood. His words got caught in his throat, however, when he felt Daniel's hands caress his cheek and his thumb rub the dried tears off his swollen eyes.

"Dani-" Seongwoo was cut off once again and his eyes widened as he saw Daniel's face come closer and closer to his.

Seongwoo was an inch close to stabbing Daniel and feeding him to sharks when Daniel suddenly blew air into his eyes once he got close enough.

"I SWEAR I'M GOING T-" Seongwoo screamed as he rubbed his eyes to alleviate the pain.

"How do you fall for that every time, hyung?" Daniel said, laughing like a maniac. Seongwoo pouted angrily and kicked Daniel's back so hard he flew off the bed.

"Alright alright I'm sorry hyung. I'll go cook you ramen since you're hungry and angry okay?" Daniel smiled as he left the room to go to the kitchen.

The moment Daniel left the room, Seongwoo clutched at his own chest, trying to stop his heart from beating out of him.

It was those moments that Daniel played off as a joke all the time that always had Seongwoo questioning.

 

_Kang Daniel. What the hell is our relationship?_


	2. Chapter 2

A few days passed after Seongwoo's failed confession attempt and nothing special happened.

Seongwoo didn't ask Daniel about his relationship to Jihoon, and Daniel didn't mention the topic either. Their relationship hadn't changed one bit and Seongwoo didn't like it. Numerous times he thought about confessing and listening to Minhyun's advice. But everytime he saw Daniel smiling besides him, he couldn't help but be scared that they would never go back to they way they were if he ever confessed. Maybe their relationship now was best for everyone. Maybe he should just.. give up.

A week later, something strange happened.

Seongwoo and Daniel were running towards their next class which was about to start in 5 minutes.

"This is all because you just HAD to have your morning jellies!" Seongwoo yelled at Daniel who was running beside him.

"No! This is because you take an hour to take a shower in the morning!" Daniel yelled back.

The two glared at each other while running full speed, unknowingly heading towards another pair of people running from the opposite direction. The two pairs ended up crashing into one another and everyone ended up on the floor.

"Ow! Look where you're goi-" Seongwoo yelled at the man he crashed into, rubbing his own head in pain.

"Right back at you!" The man shot back angrily, doing the same thing to his own head. The other man next to him was rubbing his elbow.

Seongwoo glared at the man in front of him. Sure, the guy was super handsome, but that was no excuse to be rude. Daniel sat up next to him and pat Seongwoo's head gently.

"Are you alright Seongwoo?" 

At hearing his name the handsome-but-rude man looked up in surprise and stared at Seongwoo's face intently. Seongwoo's ears brightened from all the attention he was getting from Daniel petting his head next to him and the handsome man staring at his face in front of him.

"Seong..woo?" 

"Yes that's me..will you stop staring?" Seongwoo answered, slowly getting up from the ground. 

That was when the other man also got up, tugging his friend's arm.

"What's wrong, Min-" the man couldn't finish his sentence since the other man who had been staring at Seongwoo quickly rushed to stop his friend from talking by covering his mouth.

"Let's just go Jaehwan," the man said quickly, not bothering to remove his hand. And like that, the strange man dragged his friend away from Daniel and Seongwoo who stared at their disappearing backs in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked Seongwoo who was looking at the strange man leaving. _Min?_

"I have no clue but let's just hope we aren't late for class."

"Yeah about that.. class already started 10 minutes ago."


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay...so just explain it to me one last time."

"I swear to god Jaehwan, this is the 7th time I've explained it to you!" Minhyun was already beginning to regret telling his roommate about his dilemma. Of course the idiot wouldn't understand any of it, so why did he even bother?

"So you're telling me that the guy we just ran into is actually your online friend that you've never met in real life?"

"YES FOR THE SEVENTH TIME! The other dude called him Seongwoo, and I knew I heard that name before, so just to double check I logged on to the online puppy community we met at and checked his profile. His username is Ongie, and the name on the profile is Seongwoo," Minhyun answered in exasperation, regretting his decision to tell Jaehwan deeply. They were both lying on the couch in their room, but Minhyun had to scooch to the opposite end of the couch in order to prevent himself from hitting Jaehwan in the head for his stupidity.

Without noticing Minhyun's menacing aura, Jaehwan continued, "But you know there's a ton of Seongwoos in Korea, right? How do you know if this is  _ your _ Seongwoo?"

"He's told me he had a wink boy at his school. He's definitely talking about our school's Park Jihoon. And the guy that was next to him when we ran into each other was definitely Kang Daniel, he matches perfectly with Seongwoo's description."

"Okay....but I still don't get it."

"Oh my god I wanna hit you so badly right now," Minhyun buried his face in his palm, using all the self-control he could muster to stop himself from murdering his roommate.

"But why did you pretend you didn't know him? That's why you stopped me from calling your name, right? So that he wouldn't know it was you?"

Well that was unexpected. Jaehwan asked a question that actually made sense for once.

"I...didn't want him to know it was me," Minhyun answered a bit nervously. "Seongwoo has...a secret of sorts. The only reason he told me this secret is because technically, I'm a stranger. I'm anonymous. Someone who he thinks is an outsider from his life. That's the only reason why he would have told me of all people his deepest secret. If he finds out that I'm actually not an outsider and that I'm actually in close distance to him, he'll push me away. He might even be angry that someone who knows his secret is in such close proximity to him."

Though Seongwoo was nothing more than an online chatting buddy, Minhyun still didn't want to lose that friendship. They had "met" each other 2 years ago, about a week after Minhyun joined the online puppy community.

_ "Are you actually a part of some..puppy fan club?" Jonghyun snickered, looking over at Minhyun's phone. _

_ Minhyun shoved Jonghyun's face away in embarrassment,"Quit looking at my phone!"  _

_ "Let me see! Let me see!" Minki grabbed Minhyun's phone and immediately began scrolling through its content and read aloud, "Puppy Plaza, an online community for puppy lovers around the world! See puppy posts daily and share your own puppy experiences!"  _

_ Jonghyun and Minki fell to the ground, laughing out loud without even attempting to hold it in. _

_ "Seriously dude? You need a girlfriend," Dongho chuckled. _

_ Why was he friends with such douchebags again? It wasn't his fault they didn't understand the joys of looking at cute, fluffy puppies all day. _

_ Not wanting to hear his friend's make any more fun of him, Minhyun swiped his phone out of Minki's (who was still laughing on the floor) hand and locked himself in his room. _

_ Those idiots don't know a single thing about puppies Minhyun thought as he scrolled through the articles on the dashboard. That's when he saw a blog post on the website that caught his eye. _

_ "written by user Ongie _

_ Hello, I'm new to his community here and was wondering if anyone had the same problem as me? My friends found out about my membership to his community and for the last few weeks, all they've been doing is make fun of me for being a twenty year old man who has more interest in puppies than girls. Someone please tell me I'm not the only person like this!  And lastly, as a thank you for taking your time to read this blog post, here is a picture of an adorable corgi I saw at the park two days ago." _

_ Minhyun's first thought was "Oh my god that corgi is way too cute." His second thought was "This guy is exactly like me! We are even the same age!" Wanting to have someone in the same shoes as him to talk to, Minhyun immediately pressed the direct message button after noticing that user Ongie was still online. _

 

**_from Minhyun_ **

_ hi, my name is Minhyun. i just joined this club a few days ago and i totally relate to your blog post. _

__

**_from Ongie_ **

_ nice to meet u, my name's Seongwoo! and omg you read my post?? _

 

**_from Minhyun_ **

_ yep. and the exact same thing happened when my friends found out i joined this community. also im the same age as you too _

 

**_from Ongie_ **

_ finally someone who understands me! ive been feeling so alone on this site. everyone on here is a teen female _

 

**_from Minhyun_ **

_ and then there's us two _

 

**_from Ongie_ **

_ yeah if you ever wanna talk about stuff LIKE PUPPIES feel free to message me here anytime you want :) _

 

**_from Minhyun_ **

_ will do _

 

That was their first interaction with each other that continued on for 2 years. At first the only things they talked about were about puppies. However as time passed and two talked more often, their topics became more and more personal as they began to trust each other. They even told each other things they wouldn't even tell their personal friends which was why Minhyun ended up gaining knowledge of Seongwoo's secret crush. The day he found out, he vowed to himself that he would at all costs make Seongwoo's love come true, even if it was through simple text advice.

 

But seeing Seongwoo in real life today made Minhyun rethink his vow. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop thinking about Seongwoo's face. The way his eyes cutely blinked up at him, the way he rubbed his soft hair, the way his ears turned red. The way his-"MINHYUN HYUNG!"

Minhyun snapped out of his daze.

"I've been yelling your name ten times hyung!" Jaehwan yelled directly into his ear.

"Sorry, I was..daydreaming."

"Are you serious? So you didn't hear any of my 5 minute inspirational speech about online friendship?" Minhyun nodded.

"Fine then, have fun with you and your dilemma. I'm gonna go take a nap," Jaehwan stomped off angrily into his room, muttering the whole time.

Minhyun was about to go apologize when he got a message notification

 

**from Ongie**

guess what? daniel carried me to the nurse's office today! like a princess kkk

 

Nurse's office? Was their crash that bad? Minhyun thought worriedly.

 

**from Minhyun**

nurse? did you get hurt? what happened?

 

**from Ongie**

daniel and i were running late for class so we crashed into two people in the hallway. and one of them was a complete jerk.

 

**from Minhyun**

really? he was probably just angry that someone crashed into him

 

**from Ongie**

okay tbh he was super completely totally uber really handsome but that is no excuse to yell at an injured person

 

Minhyun could not stop smiling at the screen at the sight of the word "handsome".

 

**from Minhyun**

okay but how handsome is he. is he like godly handsome? or just moderately handsome?

 

**from Ongie**

model status. you should have seen his face, it was like sculpted by god or something. if i wasnt so whipped for daniel i would be all over that guy

 

Minhyun felt his grin grow wider and wider and he began kicking the air in joy. Was the world always this beautiful?

 

**from Minhyun**

wow i really wanna see what this guy looks like. must be some emperor or something kkk

 

**from Ongie**

idc how hot he is, the next time i see him im gonna yell at him for giving me a scrape on my knee

 

**from Minhyun**

i really hope your knee gets better :(

 

**from Ongie**

oh it will for sure, especially since it just received a kiss from daniel. seriously i thought my heart was gonna stop! I was sitting on the nurse's bed when he suddenly kneeled down in front of me and grabbed my leg! he said he'd kiss the pain away and later just played it off as a joke

 

Minhyun felt his smile slowly disappear.

 

**from Ongie**

but..i think i'm going to take your advice. i'm going to confess to daniel.

 

Minhyun's smile completely faded.


	4. Chapter 4

Mondays weren't Seongwoo's best days. Then again, Mondays were nobody's best day. This particular Monday, however, Seongwoo was having a harder time motivating himself to get up than usual. Possible reasons for his lethargy were 1) his gigantic homework load the night before 2) he never could get up on Mondays. However the biggest reason was probably number three - he had a giant lump of Kang Daniel pinning him to the wall in his bed. His bed was already too small for him- adding a Kang Daniel should have been impossible, but somehow said person managed to squish both of them in the tiny bed.

The reason the two were in the same bed was simple. Seongwoo had finally finished his work by 3 AM, and immediately flung himself to bed to get some sweet sleep. His plan was disrupted twenty minutes later when Daniel barged into his room, yelling about a giant moth that had flown into his room. Seongwoo grumbled in annoyance, telling Daniel to suck it up and leave him alone. At this point, all Seongwoo wanted was sleep, so when Daniel whined about how he couldn't find his bug killer and began climbing into Seongwoo's bed, he had no energy to kick Daniel out.

Last night was so tiring that Seongwoo didn't even register the fact that he and Daniel would be sleeping together... which was why seeing Daniel's chest first thing in the morning gave Seongwoo a heart attack. They were both facing each other, with Seongwoo's head cudddled up against Daniel's chest, using his arm as a pillow and Daniel's other arm was sprawled over him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Their legs were tangled in a mess beneath them.

Seongwoo thought he had died and gone to heaven. 

 _I wish I could stay like this forever_ Seongwoo thought as he closed his eyes again.

"I want to stay like this forever."

Oh god, did he really just say his thoughts out loud? He was wrong. He hadn't said anything. Which meant the person who had spoken was-

"I want to stay like this forever, hyung," Daniel repeated, noticing Seongwoo tense at hearing his voice.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Seongwoo stuttered, a million different thoughts raced across his brain. He could feel his face grow redder and hotter, and he could only hope that Daniel didn't notice.

Unfortunately for him, Daniel did notice- and it made him want to bully his hyung, just for a bit. He quickly pulled his arm out from under Seongwoo's head and began rubbing his hands together. 

"Ah my hands are so cold~" Daniel sang, trying not to giggle at Seongwoo's confused expression. In a quick movement, Daniel cupped Seongwoo's red face with both hands and giggled, "That's better~"

Seongwoo took a few minutes to register what he meant before shoving Daniel's hands away and finally managing to get up from his bed, "Quit messing around!"

"I wasn't joking."

Seongwoo stopped his movements, he thought his heart would beat out of his chest.

"What do you mean?"

Daniel got off the bed and began walking out of Seongwoo's room, but stopped at the door way to turn and look at Seongwoo.

"You really don't know?"

The two stared at each other, feeling as though they both knew that the other had something that needed to be said.

Daniel left the room. Seongwoo simply watched.

______________________________

Seongwoo could not focus the whole day. His mind kept replaying the incidents of that morning and he couldn't focus on anything else. He was at the school convenience store for lunch alone since Daniel was out with his dance crew.

He was debating over which cup ramen to choose when he noticed there was only one left of his favorite brand. His hand reached over for it when another hand overlapped his.

"That's mi-" he began before stopping himself when he realized the other person was none other than Mr.Model he had ran into the day before.

The other man shared the same look of surprise. The surprised look was soon replaced by a teasing smirk.

"Shouldn't you give this up to me? You did crash into me yesterday without an apology."

Seongwoo gasped dramatically, his eyes widening in anger.

"Those are my words! I had to go to the nurse's yesterday after you destroyed my knees!" The word "destroy" was definitely exaggerated. A lot. But Seongwoo wasn't going to give up his ramen easily.

"You look fine to me. Can you walk?"

"Um..no?" Seongwoo lied and immediately started to fake a limp, leaning on the store shelf to complete his act.

Minhyun easily saw through the obvious lie.

"Fine then," Minhyun said as he grabbed a different cup ramen and handed Seongwoo the one he wanted.

"Thanks..." Seongwoo replied, surprised and confused that Minhyun had given up so easily.

"So how are you going to walk to the register?"

_Shit._

"Uhhh.."

Minhyun gave Seongwoo one of those smiles that seemed overly friendly but had a different meaning behind it.

"That's what I thought," he gave Seongwoo a condescending look as though he was a teacher scolding a child for lying. Before Seongwoo could react, he quickly switched his ramen with Seongwoo's.

"Lying is bad you know. And bad little boys don't get what they want," Minhyun teased, waving the ramen cup in front of Seongwoo's flabbergasted face.

Seongwoo was too stunned but by the time he snapped out of his disbelief, Minhyun had already left the store with Seongwoo's favorite cup ramen safely in his hands.

"What the hell? How can someone be that rude?" Seongwoo ranted to himself in anger. He grumpily paid for the ramen in his hands and walked out of the store to find somewhere to eat.

When Seongwoo was angry, he always needed to let someone know and rant out his wrath. Usually, that person was Daniel who wasn't there with him. That left one other person who could deal with angry ranting Seongwoo. He took out his phone.

He couldn't wait to tell Minhyun about the extremely rude-but-handsome guy he saw again. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Minhyun-hyung, what took you so long?" Jaehwan complained, "Don't you know how hungry I was?"

Minhyun apologized and sat next him, clutching the cup ramen to his chest.

"That's what you got for lunch? But you hate that ramen brand!" Jaehwan yelled, confused as to why his friend would buy something he's hated for all his life.

"Maybe I thought it was time to try something new?" Minhyun shrugged. If Jaehwan knew the real reason he got this disgusting ramen, he would laugh at him for all eternity.

Jaehwan eyed Minhyun suspiciously but his grumbling stomach told him he had more important matters to handle. The two began eating their lunches quickly and Minhyun tried his best to swallow the disgusting excuse of noodles. How could Seongwoo stand to like something this gross?

Just as he thought about Seongwoo, his phone vibrated.

 

**from Ongie**

minhunnn im all alone to eat lunch with no one to talk to :((

 

**from Minhyun**

wow u loser

 

**from Ongie**

>:(

 

**from Minhyun**

jkjk im here

 

**from Ongie**

im just gonna ignore your bitchy attitude. anyway you will not believe what just happened to me just now

 

**from Minhyun**

???

 

**from Ongie**

mr.im-handsome-but-hella-rude showed up in my face again. 

 

**from Minhyun**

wow you two must be fate

 

**from Ongie**

oh god please no. hes bitchier than you. and thats really really super bitchy.

 

**from Minhyun**

whaaat? how could anyone be bitcher than me?

 

**from Ongie**

exactly. but this guy called me a little kid and then took my ramen away from me!

 

**from Minhyun**

wow hes committed a real sin

 

**from Ongie**

is that supposed to be sarcasm or what

 

**from Minhyun**

no ofc not. theres no crime harsher than stealing ong seongwoo's favorite ramen

 

**from Ongie**

youre supposed to be on my side???? WE ARE FRIENDS WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING A STRANGER

 

**from Minhyun**

this guy seems pretty charming to me

 

**from Ongie**

cHaRmINg???? you are impossible.

 

**from Minhyun**

you said hes really handsome right? and he seems interested in you too. why dont you.. you know..give him a chance?

 

**from Ongie**

you know exactly why i cant do that

 

**from Minhyun**

ik ik just forget what i said.

 

**from Ongie**

ok..well i gotta go so ill txt you later

 

**from Minhyun**

bye

 

On the opposite side of the school campus, Seongwoo stared at his phone in bewilderment. Minhyun had never - NEVER - suggested Seongwoo give up on Daniel. He was always telling Seongwoo to confess no matter what or saying things like he should die single if he couldn't get Daniel. 

Seongwoo thought about Minhyun's advice. His last boyfriend had been 5 years ago, when he was heartbroken that Daniel had a new boyfriend. He wanted to move on and find love somewhere else but that relationship ended in a month. No matter what, Seongwoo couldn't stop his affections for Daniel. But maybe Minhyun was right. Maybe it was time. 

He cleaned up his lunch and began walking back towards the dormitories since he had no classes to go to. Still suffering from lack of sleep (most likely due to Daniel's sudden intrusion the night before), Seongwoo ended up napping on the couch, passed out completely. He didn't even notice when Daniel came into their room an hour later.

Daniel didn't want to wake his friend who he knew didn't sleep well last night because of him. He quietly approached the couch, sitting on the floor next to the sleeping form, and noticed Seongwoo's neck was craned without the comforts of a pillow. Grabbing a pillow from his room, Daniel gently lifted Seongwoo's head and placed the pillow beneath it; he smiled seeing Seongwoo's expression soften at the sudden improvement in comfort.

Unable to stop himself, Daniel's hand reached over to stroke Seongwoo's hair endearingly. Confirming that his hyung was deeply in sleep, Daniel inched closer and let his lips brush against Seongwoo's forehead.

 

"Why won't you confess to me already?"

 


	6. Chapter 6

Minhyun didn't know what he was doing. Why did he tell Seongwoo to move on? Wasn't it his goal to get Seongwoo's love to come true?

But it wasn't his fault he was acting strange. It was Seongwoo's fault. It was Seongwoo's fault for being so cute. Minhyun was the victim here. Obviously.

He was currently glaring daggers in Seongwoo's direction, while the target of this staring was completely oblivious. Seongwoo was too busy being attacked by a voracious mob of killer corgis at a park near the college. Apparently Seongwoo had also seen the recent event announcement on the homepage of the online puppy community they were both members in. It was a Corgi Festival, and it was just near their college.

Corgis? Of course Minhyun was going.

And from the contents of their texts a day before, Minhyun could tell Seongwoo was going too.

 

**from Ongie**

holy shit dude CORGIS! AND THE VENUE IS SO CLOSE TO MY SCHOOL

 

**from Minhyun**

I see you've read the announcement on the homepage

 

**from Ongie**

hell yeah!! u goin?

 

**from Minhyun**

i would but its too far from where i live :( I totally want to squish one of those corgi's cheeks tho

 

**from Ongie**

you poor unfortunate soul

 

**from Minhyun**

stop rubbing it in my face >:( Also wouldnt it be kinda weird if you went somewhere like that alone? itll probably be filled with young couples you know?

 

**from Ongie**

im planning on asking daniel to come with

 

**from Minhyun**

oh. thought he was a cat person

 

**from Ongie**

he is but its not like he doesnt like dogs

 

**from Minhyun**

well i hope you two have fun

 

Minhyun kept glancing around, waiting for Daniel to suddenly appear and go to Seongwoo. No matter how long he waited, however, all he could see was Seongwoo lying on the grass alone with five corgis on his laps, giving kisses to each one. At further inspection around the festival, Minhyun could see that his prediction was correct- the place was flooded with young couples.

Leaving the bench he had been spying Seongwoo from, he approached him to see the puppies better.

Only to see the puppies.

Not Seongwoo.

Just for the puppies.

"You're here alone?"

Seongwoo looked up to see Minhyun staring down at him. Oh. Mr.Rude is back.

"Are you stalking me or something, why do I literally see you everywhere I go?" Seongwoo shot back at him, glaring as the man sat down on the grass next to him and took some corgis off of Seongwoo's lap.

"Maybe it's fate."

Seongwoo visibly tensed.  _Fate. That's exactly what Minhyun had called it._

"Where's that guy you're always with?"

"You mean Daniel? He went to get snacks."

Minhyun flinched. He thought Daniel hadn't come after all and was hoping for some alone time with Seongwoo and the puppies.

"I didn't know you were into puppies." Seongwoo commented while playing with a corgi's ears.

"Oh well I just had a lot of free time so I decided to come," Minhyun lied nonchalantly, squishing the cheeks of a small corgi.

Suddenly, as if struck by lightening, Seongwoo's eyes widened and he immediately reached for his phone and began typing furiously.

"What's wro-" Minhyun began but was interrupted with the notification sound from his phone.

He reached to check his phone and his heart stopped.

 

**from Ongie**

you're sitting next to me, arent you.

 

Minhyun quickly looked up from his phone to see Seongwoo glaring at him, hatred evident in his eyes.

"Seongwoo, I swear I didn't mean to lie, I can explain," Minhyun pleaded, his heart was going off at a hundred miles. He screwed up. He completely and utterly messed it all up.

Seongwoo didn't answer him and instead chose to break eye contact with him, focusing on the corgis instead.

"Am I joke to you?" Seongwoo managed to whisper, unable to look at Minhyun.

"Of course not! I just wanted-"

 

"Hyung, I'm back! Aaanndd I brought BEER~"  Daniel sang, holding two packs of beer in both hands. He only realized the weight of the tense mood when he saw his hyung's face, which was almost always cheerful and smiling, show a dark, grim expression. Daniel's face darkened as well.

"What happened," he almost growled, his voice getting deep and low as it usually does when he was angry.

Seongwoo slowly looked up at him and his face changed automatically, as if he hadn't known Daniel had been there. When he did realize Daniel had come, his expression immediately changed and he put on a facade of happiness and he plastered on a smile that seemed so genuine it was as if it was programmed that way.

Daniel could see through the whole thing. He knew something was wrong.

He was about to question the man sitting next to Seongwoo, who was obviously involved in whatever incident that had just happened, when Seongwoo suddenly got up from his seat and began dragging Daniel away.

"Let's go find a spot somewhere else~" Seongwoo said in a light voice, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. He knew he wasn't fooling Daniel, so he gave Daniel a pleading look.  _Please take me away from here._ And Daniel understood. The two walked away from Minhyun, without looking back once.

Minhyun stared at the corgi in his lap, and the way its cheeks were up, almost as if it was giving him a smile.

The corgi's cheeks.

That was his mistake.

Minhyun knew he should be chasing after the two, begging Seongwoo for forgiveness, explaining what had happened, anything. But for some reason, he couldn't get his legs to move. In fact, he stayed at that spot for the whole duration of the festival, and was only able to move when it was over.

Somehow he was able to drag himself to his dorm. He shut the door behind him and was planning on taking a long, cold shower when he heard Jaehwan singing from the shower stalls. Jaehwan's singing practice in the showers meant that Minhyun would be waiting an hour to take a shower. So instead he dragged his feet to his room and plopped down on his bed. He stayed that way, lying on his bed motionlessly for a while, before he got the courage to pick up his phone.

 

**from Minhyun**

Seongwoo..

 

**from Minhyun**

Seongwoo I know you're online, please answer me

 

**from Minhyun**

I know I shouldn't have lied to you but please..

 

**from Minhyun**

I wasn't trying to make a joke out of you can we please just talk?

 

**_*user Ongie has blocked you*_ **

 


	7. Chapter 7

The moment they got back to their dorm Seongwoo locked himself up in his room despite Daniel's endless request for him to talk about what was wrong.

He immediately locked his room and dove under the blankets.

Stupid Minhyun. Stupid Minhyun and his stupid lies. How could he play with him like that? Pretending he was concerned for Seongwoo when he was really just laughing behind the scenes. Acting like his friend when he knew all along who Seongwoo was. Why else would he hide his identity?

Just the thought of it brought tears in Seongwoo's eyes. It was his fault. He should never had trusted someone from online.

Seongwoo was trying to forget about it and force himself to sleep when Daniel began pounding on his door.

"Open the door hyung! Or I might just break it down!"

Seongwoo sighed. Daniel could very well break the door down if he wanted to. And he had before.

Defeated, Seongwoo got up from his bed, wiped his eyes, and opened the door to find Daniel standing at his doorway with kitty paw gloves on his hands.

"Open up~ Open up~" Daniel sang cutely putting up his paws over his head.

Seongwoo grinned. How could he not smile at that?

"Get in here you dork," Seongwoo laughed, "And take off those ridiculous gloves."

Daniel grinned back at him and entered the room, plopping himself down on Seongwoo's bed. Then, he opened his arms wide.

"Is my baby Seongwoo feeling down? Come here, let daddy take care of you."

"Ewww..Say something like that again and I'm kicking you out," Seongwoo fake-barfed before laying in Daniel's arms. His back was snug against Daniel's chest, and Daniel's arms wrapped around him, comforting him.

It reminded Seongwoo of when they were little kids, and Seongwoo used to be much bigger than Daniel. Back then it was Seongwoo who comforted young Daniel, whenever the younger needed to cry or was scared of something stupid like lightning. Now, several years later, Daniel had grown larger than him, and Seongwoo never would have thought that he'd fall so deep in love with the younger.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Daniel whispered, rubbing gentle circles in Seongwoo's stomach, something Seongwoo used to do for him when they were children.

Recognizing the gesture, Seongwoo smiled, "It's just a friend. A friend who I thought was a friend but wasn't really my friend."

"I'm sorry," Daniel rubbed his forehead on the crook of Seongwoo's neck.

Seongwoo reached back and pat Daniel's head, "It's not your fault. It's my fault for being so stupid and gullible."

"It's not."

Seongwoo gasped as he was suddenly turned around by Daniel's hands. He found himself face to face with a very close Daniel, who had the most serious look on his face. It took Seongwoo's breath away, but he didn't dare show it.

"Okay so maybe you are pretty stupid, but it's most definitely not your fault."

Seongwoo frowned at the first part but softened when Daniel pulled him in a tight embrace.

"Don't be hurt hyung. It hurts me more." Daniel whispered.

"Why would it hurt you more?" Seongwoo chuckled, holding tightly onto Daniel's shoulders.

"Because I-"

Daniel stopped talking. Seongwoo pulled back in confusion.

"Because what? Oh my god you gotta be kidding me," Seongwoo groaned as he sat up and looked down on a deeply sleeping (and snoring) Daniel....who also still had kitty gloves on. Snickering, Seongwoo took out his phone to take some photos of the embarassing get-up. This is just revenge for sleeping at a very important moment.

Nonetheless, Seongwoo placed himself back in Daniel's arm and drifted to sleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the really short chapter update >.< I'm a bit busy at the moment but I'll try to update longer next time!


	8. Chapter 8

It takes Seongwoo all his strength to drag himself out of bed the next day. He has class first thing in the morning, so he goes through the automatic routine of preparing for class. He had nightmares the night before, of a gentle, beautiful mermaid. Seongwoo had been lost in a forest, with a deep wound in his heart that had been there since the beginning of the dream. His heart was bleeding and he felt his body grow weaker, when he spotted the mermaid warmly summoning him closer to the forest lake. Seongwoo didn't hesitate and trusted the mermaid right away. 

Once he got closer, he sat next to the mermaid who had come up from the water to greet him. She gently placed her hand on his chest, and to Seongwoo's shock, his heart began to heal. The bleeding was slowly stopping, and Seongwoo was regaining his energy. Just when he was about to thank the kind mermaid, the mermaid's smile became dark and monstrous. Before Seongwoo could back away, the mermaid grabbed him and pulled him underwater, effectively drowning him.

Seongwoo woke up with cold sweat after that, panting heavily.

Normally, it's easy to forget dreams by the morning, or lose some of its vividness and details. But Seongwoo, for some reason, remembers it all in clarity the next morning.

The rest of the day, that nightmare is all that goes through Seongwoo's head. This unfortunately means that he hasn't paid attention to any of the lectures he had that day - not that he ever does anyway. 

It's his last lecture of the day, and Seongwoo can't wait to get back to his dorm room and just dive into his bed. He is tired both emotionally and physically and his teacher's monotonic voice is not helping him.

After what seems like forever, the lecture is finally over and Seongwoo lethargically packs up his belongings to leave the room. It's a burning Friday night, so almost all the students zoom out of the class the moment it ends to meet up and party with friends or gather for drinks. For Seongwoo, it's not burning Friday, so he's the last one to leave the room.

Just as he leaves the room however, he is greeted by the face he wants to see the least. 

Minhyun.

All of a sudden flashbacks from his nightmare starts to haunt him and Seongwoo is filled with hostility. He walks past Minhyun, roughly passing his shoulder without giving him a chance to speak. He is stopped however, when Minhyun pulls him back by the wrist.

"We need to talk."

Seongwoo knew those words would come out of Minhyun's mouth.

"Talk? About what? About how you lied to me? Pretended you cared about me and then mocked me behind my back? No thanks, I've had enough of you," Seongwoo responds coldly and attempts to pull away but is taken aback when Minhyun strengthens his grip and pulls him even closer. He is even more shocked when he sees the fire in Minhyun's eyes.

"I said we need to talk," Minhyun repeats his words, this time adding more force into each syllable. Seongwoo's coldness towards him triggers something, and Minhyun begins to feel a flame of anger. If only Seongwoo would listen, if only he could melt that icy gaze back into a warm one.

Seongwoo, on the other hand, is baffled. Minhyun had no right or reason to be angry at him? So why did he look so scary at that moment?

If Minhyun was angry, then Seongwoo was furious. He roughly jerked his wrist out of Minhyun's grip and unable to control his emotions, pushed Minhyun away harshly.

"Don't ever touch me again you heartless son of a-"

Seongwoo yelps as his head comes in contact with the hard wall behind him. Minhyun, himself, is surprised at the sudden wave of frustration that overtakes him and he isn't even aware of his own actions when he grabs Seongwoo by the waist and slams him against the wall, then pinning him there with his strength. 

At first, Minhyun is shocked by his actions and is about to let go of the cowering figure in front of him, but the moment he meets Seongwoo's wide, fearful eyes, he is filled with a strange satisfaction.

Angry Seongwoo would never listen to him. Perhaps Scared Seongwoo would.

"W-what are you doing? G-get off!" Seongwoo stammers helplessly and attempts to push Minhyun away. In response, Minhyun pins him harder against the wall.

"Listen to me carefully, Seongwoo," Minhyun says in a low voice, effectively stopping Seongwoo's resistance.

"I never wanted to hurt you. In fact, it was just the opposite. When I found out who you were, I didn't know what to do, but all I knew was that I wanted to be closer to you. I didn't want to be just internet friends. Then I saw you with Daniel, and.. and...I don't know."

Seongwoo listens to him, and slowly and very slightly, his heart opens up.

"Then why did you lie?" Seongwoo almost whispers, his hopeful eyes meeting Minhyun's desperate ones.

He immediately regrets asking this when he hears Minhyun's answer.

 

"Because I love you."

 

Seongwoo wants to believe Minhyun is lying, he wants to believe it's a joke, but Minhyun's eyes are honest and sincere. The look in Minhyun's eyes are heavy and Seongwoo thinks he might suffocate from the pressure. He's about to formulate a response but his words are caught in his throat and he licks his lips instead. Seongwoo notices Minhyun's eyes drifting to his lips and his pupils dilating.

He knows what's coming next.

He watches, and his breathing becomes heavier, as Minhyun's own lips come closer and closer to his, and when he looks up he sees that Minhyun isn't closing his eyes. They are wide open, as if watching for Seongwoo's reaction.

They are so close that they can feel each other's lips brush against each other when Seongwoo turns his head away.

 

"I'm sorry."  _My heart belongs to someone else._

 

Minhyun feels his heart drop into an endless pit.

Rejection.

It's the feeling he despises the most.

And it's the feeling that makes him do things he knows he'll regret.

 

The flame in Minhyun's eyes doesn't die out - it grows even stronger. Seongwoo's face is still turned away from him, as if he refuses to even look at him. It angers him immensely. He is about to grab Seongwoo's face to force the kiss - no, his emotions - on him, but stops himself when he sees Seongwoo's eyes widen at the sight of something. 

Minhyun follows Seongwoo's gaze to see what Seongwoo is seeing. When he does, he understands why Seongwoo is so surprised.

 

Kang Daniel.

 

He is standing a few feet away from the two, but the anger emanating from his body can be sensed from miles away. 

 

"D-daniel," Seongwoo squeaks, his face growing bright red, realizing the close proximity and provocative position he was in with Minhyun.

Minhyun sighs when he sees Daniel approach them.

 

Before Daniel can reach them, Minhyun leans down until his mouth reaches Seongwoo's ear.

 

"He better claim you soon," Minhyun whispers into Seongwoo's ear.

 

"Or else I'm going to steal you away."

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Seongwoo jumps and immediately pushes Minhyun away the moment he notices Daniel.

The boy's face is seemingly calm but Seongwoo can see the hidden flare of rage in his eyes. Minhyun can sense it too.

As Daniel advances towards them, Seongwoo does his best to try and alleviate the situation.

"D-daniel, don't misunderstand," he wants to continue but Daniel wordlessly grabs his wrist and pulls Seongwoo behind him, as if he's trying to hide him from Minhyun.

Seongwoo can feel Daniel's grasp getting tighter and tighter; he wants to say something, but he's afraid he might make Daniel angrier than he already seems to be.

Before pulling Seongwoo away, Daniel gives Minhyun a hard stare, as if challenging him to take Seongwoo away. Minhyun is about to take that challenge but he sees Seongwoo's panicked face and decides against it. Instead, he just sighs and walks away.

After making sure Minhyun has gone, Daniel finally begins pulling Seongwoo away, keeping a tight grasp on his wrist. Seongwoo doesn't have the courage to speak up, so he lets himself be dragged away.

When they reach their dorm, Daniel finally lets go of Seongwoo's wrist. The whole walk there, Daniel hasn't spoken a word, and neither has Seongwoo.

Daniel walks ahead of him, with his back to Seongwoo. To anyone else, they wouldn't have noticed anything off, but Seongwoo can tell, just by the way Daniel's shoulders are heaving, that there's something wrong.

He finally musters up the courage to break the silence.

"Daniel what's wro-" The rest of his question is muffled because Daniel pulls him into a tight embrace, and Seongwoo is pretty much suffocating in Daniel's arms.

Seongwoo is confused, so very confused, but instead of pushing Daniel away, he reluctantly raises his arms in order to return the embrace. He wraps his arms around Daniel's back, the same way he used to do for little Daniel when they were just kids.

The two stay like that for a while, but Seongwoo is still confused about Daniel's behavior. He soon realizes, however, that Daniel is crying.

It starts as light trembles that grow harsher and harsher, and soon Seongwoo is certain that 21 year old Kang Daniel is sobbing into his shoulder just as 10 year old Daniel used to do.

"D-Daniel, are you crying? What's wrong?" Seongwoo can't hide the surprise in his voice. He hasn't seen Daniel cry in 10 years and he honestly doesn't know how to react. He attempts to pull away so that he can wipe of Daniel's tears and look him in the eye, but when he struggles away, Daniel pulls him even closer, refusing to let his hyung move away from him.

"P-please hyung.. don't leave me.." Daniel sobs, wetting Seongwoo's shoulder.

Seongwoo's heart melts. "Wh-what? Of course I'm not going to leave you!"

"Then why were you...with him.... hyung you can't!" 

"Are you talking about Minhyun? He- he's just.. he.. he isn't even a friend," Seongwoo reaches up and pets Daniel's head soothingly. He felt like an owner calming his gigantic terrified puppy.

"Hyung...you can't...you can't fall in love with anyone else," Daniel continues to sob.

Seongwoo freezes.

"What do you mean...what do you mean anyone else?" 

Daniel freezes too. 

Finally, Daniel pulls back and he quickly wipes his tearful face.

"You can't love anyone else... because I'm in love with you, hyung," Daniel finally confesses, his eyes never leaving Seongwoo's.

All Seongwoo manages to say is "What?". And it comes out as a pathetic squeak. Seongwoo wants to say a million things to Daniel. He wants to tell him he loves him too, that he's always loved him. He wants to tell him how much he loves Daniel's smile, his voice, his hair, body, everything. He wants to tell him how much he's been suffering, begging Daniel to look back at him, to return his feelings for him. He wants to tell him he won't and can't love anyone else.

Seongwoo wants to tell Daniel, but his jaws stop working and he ends up looking like a blubbering fish.

Daniel finally cracks into a smile, seeing his flustered hyung. He wipes the last of his tears from his face before caressing Seongwoo's cheek gently.

He slowly leans down, his eyes glued to Seongwoo's lips. He stops, however, when he hears Seongwoo gasp almost inaudibly, and his eyes shift from Seongwoo's lips to his eyes.

"Wait," Seongwoo barely whispers, his word almost comes out as a simple breath. Seongwoo takes his own hand and reaches up to caress Daniel's cheek, mirroring Daniel's actions. He also meets Daniel's eyes, and confirms Daniel's sincerity; once he does, Seongwoo feels as though he will be the one to cry, knowing that his seemingly unrequited love has been a requited one after all.

"I'm in love with you too," Seongwoo finally tells him, he doesn't want Daniel to kiss him without knowing his true feelings first.

Daniel grins and finally, after 10 years of pining mournfully, he leans down and gently kisses his love.

 

When morning comes, Seongwoo wakes up in his crush's arms. Or to put it correctly, his lover's arms. He wiggles out of bed after kissing Daniel on the lips to wake him up, and proceeds to the kitchen as always. 

He is finally happy. He feels nothing can ever come between him and Daniel anymore. He and Daniel can now live happily ever after.

 

 

..or so he thought.

-

 

A week passes since Seongwoo and Daniel begins officially dating, and hanging out as lovers, not just best friends. The news sweeps across campus, but no one is really surprised, everyone knew it was bound to happen. 

Seongwoo hasn't heard or seen Minhyun at all since the incident at the hallway, but he prefers it that way. He doesn't know how or what he should say if Minhyun ever confronted him again.

 

Seongwoo is waiting outside Daniel's dance studio like he always does so that they can walk home together. 

"Seongwoo-sunbae can I talk to you?"

Seongwoo turns to the voice and is shocked to see the school's famous winkboy (also the boy he had mistakenly thought was dating Daniel).

"Jihoon..right? Sure, what's up?" Seongwoo does his best to calm his voice. Why was Park Jihoon..THE Park Jihoon, talking to him? Was he looking for Daniel?"

"Sunbae is it true that you are dating Daniel-hyung?" Jihoon asks and Seongwoo is confused when he sees tears welling in the pretty boy's eyes.

"Y-yes..it's been about a week," Seongwoo answers bashfully, his ears going red. He still isn't used to the idea that his 10 years crush is finally his.

"Sunbae, I'm begging you, please break up with Daniel."

 

Seongwoo's heart drops.

 

"Excuse me?" is all Seongwoo can say. He is baffled, beyond perplexed, as to why Jihoon would want him and Daniel separated.

"Please sunbae, I've been in love with Daniel-hyung for 2 years, I can't just let him go like this," Jihoon begins to break down in front of him, but Seongwoo feels nothing but anger grow inside him.

When Seongwoo doesn't answer, Jihoon continues, "I saw you at the hallway that day kissing Minhyun-sunbae, so I can tell you think of Daniel-hyung as nothing but a game, but I'm serious about him, and I can't let him go...Since you're going to break up with him anyway, please do it now."

Saying Seongwoo grew angry is a colossal understatement. It was obvious Jihoon jumped to the wrong conclusions when he saw his fight with Minhyun and the hallway, but to assume that Seongwoo only thought of Daniel as a game was infuriating. He couldn't believe Jihoon had the audacity to accuse him like that, when he had been suffering for Daniel's love all these years. And 2 years of pining after Daniel? Seongwoo scoffed-that was nothing compared to his 10 years of suffering.

He had finally become lovers with his lifelong crush, and yet Jihoon was mocking it, seeing it as nothing.

Seongwoo's rage grows unabated, and he can't stop his fist from rising and moving towards Jihoon's cheek.

It doesn't come into contact, however, since a strong hand grabs his wrist to stop him.

"Hyung what are you doing?!" Daniel yells at him, pulling Seongwoo's fist down.

Seongwoo's heart breaks when he sees the genuine anger in Daniel's eyes. Daniel was in love with him, so why was he protecting Jihoon? 

"Let go of me, he deserves it," Seongwoo tries to pull away, but Daniel's grip on his wrist is stronger.

"I don't care what Jihoon said that made you so upset, there is no reason for you to hit him," Daniel scolds his hyung, unknowingly shattering Seongwoo's heart into pieces.

Something clicks in Seongwoo's head, and his arms go limp at his sides when Daniel finally releases his wrist. His head is hung low, and he can't help the tears streaming down his face,

"I should have known. You are in love with Jihoon, aren't you. I knew it the whole time but I guess I was lying to myself."

Daniel softens when he hears his hyung's sobs, "That's not true and you know it. I've always and always will love only you,"

This isn't enough to calm Seongwoo, and he ends up bursting out, "Then why would you protect him over me? Aren't I the person you love?"

Jihoon, seeing Seongwoo's outburst, feels the guilt drive him mad. When he had confronted Seongwoo, he truly believed Seongwoo was just a player who thought of Daniel as a game. He saw Minhyun looming over Seongwoo against the wall of the hallway and thought the two had been kissing. He really didn't know how much Daniel meant to Seongwoo. Once he saw Seongwoo's tears and outburst, Jihoon felt the guilt eat away at him. How could he say such cruel things? He had to make things better before they escalated.

"I'm so sorry, please don't fight. I'm so sorry for what I've said, I'll leave right now so please, please don't fight anymore," Jihoon spits out before Seongwoo and Daniel can continue their quarrel.

"Then do it, disappear right now," Seongwoo answers coldly. He realizes how cruel he sounds, but he can't stop himself. He feels as though Daniel and Jihoon have teamed up against him, and can't forgive Jihoon for causing this mess. He and Daniel had been a lovey dovey couple until Jihoon entered the picture.

Daniel, on the other hand, is baffled to see Seongwoo reacting so violently, "Hyung! Cool your head down, Jihoon was just apologizing!"

Seongwoo is shocked; he can't believe that after all of this, Daniel is still taking Jihoon's side. Did Daniel really love him?

"Fine then. I'll disappear instead," Seongwoo says brokenheartedly, he turns around runs away from the two, his tears welling up once again.  
He hears Daniel calling out for him, and smiles, thinking Daniel left Jihoon's side to come after it. The smile soon vanishes, however, when he hears from a distance Daniel's voice asking Jihoon if he was okay. Hearing this, Seongwoo runs even faster, across the entire campus until his legs feel as though they might explode. He crouches against the wall of a nearby building.

He wraps his arms around his knees and buries his head into his legs. After he is sure his face is completely hidden, he lets the tears burst out and he sobs uncontrollably against the building wall. He feels so empty, like his heart has been torn out and thrown away. He had thought he and Daniel would happily ever after, he had thought this was the end of his suffering. He had never expected so much pain from Daniel's love.

 

Finally, he hears footsteps coming from behind him. Finally, he hears the sound he wanted to hear the most.

Of course Daniel would chase after him, there was no way he would abandon Seongwoo for Jihoon. 

 

Seongwoo looked up to see the person who had chased after him.

 

Except it wasn't Daniel.

 

It was Minhyun.


	10. Chapter 10

Seongwoo’s heart goes cold the moment he sees Minhyun hovering over his huddled body. He quickly wipes away any leftover tears; he doesn’t need any pity from him. All the anger and frustration from his situation with Daniel begins to target Minhyun as its outlet.

 

Seongwoo knows he is being unfair, but he is too heartbroken to do anything else. He quickly gets up and attempts to walk past Minhyun, completely ignoring him. The moment he feels Minhyun’s hand wrap around his arm he jerks back and glares back at Minhyun’s concerned eyes.

 

“Leave me alone,” Seongwoo sighs defeatedly. He is reminded of what happened at the hallway that day and knows Minhyun had a hidden strength that could easily overpower him.

 

“Let me help you,” Minhyun urges.

 

Seongwoo knows he should refuse. He knows he should push Minhyun away for Daniel’s sake. But then he sees pictures of Jihoon and Daniel together in his head, and immediately his conscience is ignored.

 

He lets Minhyun take him away.

 

\-----------

 

When Minhyun saw Seongwoo crying against the wall earlier, he was aware of the situation Seongwoo was in. 

 

He is completely aware of how devious and sly he was being, taking Seongwoo away when he was most vulnerable, but he did it anyway, using love as his excuse.

 

He is not, however, aware of Seongwoo’s inability to take more than 2 bottles of soju. So when he brings Seongwoo to a nearby street restaurant, he doesn’t stop Seongwoo from ordering five bottles.

 

“I..don’t drink,” Minhyun confesses when Seongwoo offers him a drink. Seongwoo shoots him a ‘are you serious?’ look before shrugging and taking the shot himself.

 

For the next hour Minhyun simply watches as Seongwoo gulps down alcohol, obviously without thinking of the impending consequences. 

 

It’s after Seongwoo finishes his second bottle, Minhyun begins to notice to glaring red on Seongwoo’s cheeks and the way Seongwoo’s eyes blink cutely every minute - the oncoming signs of a growing drunk.

 

When Seongwoo reaches for a third bottle, Minhyun stops him.

“I think you’ve had enough,” he suggests and Seongwoo squints his eyes at him and pouts. Yep. Definitely drunk.

 

“Meanie..you don’t even know anything,” Seongwoo blabbers and attempts to pry the bottle out of Minhyun’s grip. Minhyun simply pulls the bottle away from him, which isn’t so difficult with Seongwoo’s current state.

 

“Why don’t you tell me then?” Minhyun doesn’t know but he is going to regret saying that in the next hour, because after this suggestion, Seongwoo begins his detailed and elaborate tale of his crush on Daniel, his online friend’s betrayal, Daniel’s sudden confession, all the way to the fight between him and Jihoon. The story was constantly interrupted by Seongwoo’s sudden outbursts of sobs and drunk wailing, which Minhyun had to deal with by wiping the boy’s face with tissues anytime a waterfall of sadness exploded from Seongwoo.

 

“But then when I turned around, it- it wasn’t Daniel, it- it was just you,” Seongwoo finishes with a hiccup and sniffles.

 

Minhyun is about to say something to comfort him, when Seongwoo suddenly starts screaming and wailing.

 

“KANG DANIEL YOU BIG IDIOT! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!”

 

The whole restaurant turns to look at them and Minhyun’s ears grow red from embarrassment as he hears the people whispering.

 

“Poor boy...that other boy in front of him must be Daniel.”

 

“That guy Daniel must have dumped him just now, how sad.”

 

Minhyun’s face grows redder and redder. First off, he is absolutely NOT Daniel. Second, he never dumped Seongwoo, if anything, it’s the other way around.

 

“Seongwoo I think we should lea-”

“DANIEL IS A BIG STUPID IDIOT!” Seongwoo cries one last time before collapsing on the table and knocking over all the soju bottles.

 

The people’s whispers and stares grow and Minhyun quickly uses this opportunity to drag Seongwoo’s lifeless body out of the restaurant.

 

Minhyun feels his backbones breaking from having to support Seongwoo. He has Seongwoo’s arm slung over his shoulder and is desperately trying not to help.

 

Suddenly he feels Seongwoo pull his arm away and for a blissful moment Minhyun is relieved from the pain in his backbones. The moment lasts only for a second and Minhyun wants to cry when Seongwoo jumps on his back and wraps his arms around his neck and legs around his waist.

 

It gets worse when Seongwoo starts bouncing and shaking him, “GO HORSIE GO!!!”

 

All Minhyun hears his Seongwoo laughing and giggling behind him when he takes a shaky step forward.

 

He’s close to collapsing from the weight but barely saves himself with a second step. He is about to take the third step when he sees a figure running towards them.

 

“Hyung!”


End file.
